Electrical heater for the air-supply pipes of carburetors



April 12, 1927.

p w. F. CLEARY ET AL ELECTRICAL HEATER FOR THE AIR SUPPLY PIPES or cmaunmoas Filed Oct. 15, 1925 Patented Apr. 12, 1927.

UNITED STATES; PATENT? or PIECE;

WILLIAM FYCLEARY, OF'HAWTHORNE, NEW J ERSEY, AND WILLIAM J. WAGENER, 0.1? NEW YORK, N, Y.

ELECTRICAL HEATER FORTHEJXIR-SUPPLY "PIPES"OFCARB'URRTORSI Application mearoctober 1 5, 19-25. Seria1 No. G2,5B3.

Our inventionrefers to an electrical heat-er for-therair supply pipe ofithe carburetor of, a Ford or similar car" or-automobile. The object-is to provide simple and inexpen sive attachment which can-be readily; ap

plied to the air conduit leading into the carburetor; so that in: cold Weather the-n'nxtu're of air and gas-iw ill take' place more quickly,

enable saidpipe-todeliver hot air into the the exhaust pipe'or engine Willdevelop nobeneficial function; and it: is therefore essen tial to p1.ovid=e means for an initial heating of said air supply'to subserve the quick generation of the mixture and assist in starting' the" engine, This we accomplish by ineansof our improvedelectrical heater ape plied directly to thesaid air'supplypi pe'.

The inyention therefore consists essentialbe-h'erei-nafter 'd'esorib'edzand claimed; a

In the accompanying drawing illustrat ing our invention;

Figure'l isa side elevation: in outline of an internal combustion engine, such as may be found in Ford and other cars, and shows our improved electrical heating means for the air pipe leading into the carburetor.

Figure 2 is a vertical perspective view of the air pipe enlarged and detached from the engine and the carburetor.

Figure 3 is a plan view of the two halves of the heater casing separated from each other and laid out side bv side to show the recessed interior of the same.

Figure 4 is an enlarged vertical section on the line 4, 4, of Figure 1.

Figure 5 is an enlarged horizontal sec- 1y intheconstru'ction, combination and ar rangement of parts, and iii-numerous details and peculiarities thereof, substantially as will tion of the same on the line 5, 5, of Figure 1.

Similar characters of reference d'esignzrt correspondmg parts throughout all the: d=i. f

fcrent figures ofthe drawing.

1 denotes in general outline any suitable and ordinary gas engine, say for example 01: the type used in Fords and similar cars; w- 1.1 flwd l 1 1,1 a. Uuppoi so a kc slt et ieico is a (,Jabill etoi 9. The gas intake inanii ohi 10' leads from the carburetor to the engine. and the exhaust manifold 2 is arranged to carry the spent products of combustion away from-the engine'anid into the exhaust pipe 3'. T he exhaust u'ianifold 2 is held in place by suitable clamps and screws 24, which can be loosened and tightened as desired, so that-the man-ifold may beremoved when necessary All these parts are common and coi-i-ventional and are: offered here merely for illustrating purposes without any idea of being confined thereto.

The main feature however with which our invention concerned is the air supply pipe shown by itself in Figure 2', and the heating of the air in which is the chief purposeof our improved electrical beaten This air pipe'lea'ds into the carburetor 9- and carries atmospheric air into thelatter to mix with the gasoline vapor to form the fuel for the engine", Said pipe has an enlarged and rather flat upper end which is cut away at 6 and 6 to allow air to pass easily into it,

which upper end lies against over the exhaust pipeii, or lies closely against the engine wall or'some other part which becomes heated, and when it lies overthe exhaust'pipe 3 it is usually provided with inturned lips 5, 5, which may engage the exhaust pipe 3 and cause the air pipe 4 to lie properly spaced away from the exhaust pipe so as to let in a good quantity of air into the large receiving end 4i. The air thus entering the part 4 ordinarily becomes heated therein by the heat radiated from the hot exhaust pipe 3, after the latter has been heated by the hot products passing through it. The lower portion of this air supply pipe has a curved section 7, the bottom end of which enters the carburetor 9, said section being slotted at 11, 11, to allow heat from our electrical heater to warm the air flowing through said pipe section 7. This air supply pipe consisting of these main portions 4 and 7 has a perforated clip 8 engaged by one of the clamps 24 to hold the same in its position on the engine and close to the exhaust pipe, as shown.

In order to heat the air in the air supply device, when the engine is cold before it starts, so as to facilitate such starting, we have devised a simple and eflicient electrical heater, which we clamp over and around the pipe 7, opposite the openings 11, 11, so that the heat generated within the heater may heat through the openings 11 the air which is flowing through the pipe into the carburetor. The heater has a casing composed essentially of two recessed porcelain blocks 16, 16, which are hollow but are shaped so that they would close together to provide a tight inner chamber, certain of the edges being curved inwardly as shown in Figure 5 so as to fit closely around the pipe 7. These sections 16, 16, are clamped together and upon pipe 7 by means of two pairs of headed brass screw bolts 21, 21, provided with suitable nuts at proper points. These bolts pass through openings and 23 in the porcelain sections 16; and the bolts are connected together outside the porcelain sec tions by brass connecting strips 18, 18, and inside the hollow interior of the casing by means of coiled springs 19, which latter give oli' heat when the circuit through these various parts is closed so that the electric current may heat the wire springs 19. Each strip 18 connects together the members of one of the pairs of the bolts 21. The coil-ed heater springs 19 each connect one bolt of one pair of bolts with abolt ot' the other pair of bolts, so that the springs are at right angles to the strips 18 and form ditierent connections for the bolts. One of the bolts 21 is long enough to project beyond the casing and carry a binding screw 20 to allow a conducting wire 15 to be attached thereto, which runs to a switch 19 located at any suitable point. And from another bolt 21 inside the cavities of the porcelain a brass strip 22 leads to the pipe 7 and embraces the same, see Figure 5, to make a proper grounding at this point. Further a conductor leads from switch 12 to battery 13, whence a wire 17 runs to ground at 1% through the engine. The switch 12 which may be anywhere, on the dash, steering post,

the floor, or elsewhere, controls the opening and closing of the circuit; and when the circuit by a proper manipulation of the switch is closed for a short time before starting the engine, or when theengine first begins to turn over, the wires 19 will give off a considerable amount of heat which will warm the air and hasten the formation of the mixture and the starting of the engine as we have explained.

Thus we apply to a slotted air pipe, a tight and close casing, the interior of which becomes very hot and imparts such heat to the air flowing through the pipe, for when the air passes the slots 11 it is directly affected by the heat. Our heater maybe changed in the electrical and other details quite extensively in order to obtain the best results.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

In a heater for warming the air supply passing to a carlimretor or other device, the combination of two recessed hollow sections with curved edges adapted to fit around an air pip-e, said sections being closed together to provide a tight heater chamber, pairs of bolts passing through openings in said sections for holding the sections together, one bolt projecting beyond the casing, parallel external connecting strips for said bolts, each of said strips connecting together the two members or a pair of bolts, parallel in ternal coiled heater springs connecting together the bolts, each 01' said springs connecting one member of one pair of bolts with one member of another pair o'l' bolts, said heater springs lying in a direction at right angles to the direction of the external strips, a binding screw on the projecting bolt, a strip inside the casing attached to one bolt and also adapted to be in contact with an air pipe which delivers airto the carburetor, all arranged to provide an electric circuit through which a heating current may pass.

In testimony whereof we hereunto atlix our signatures.

VILLIAM F. CLEARY. WVILLIAM J. lVAGENER. 

